


Failed Recordings

by Stories_By_Bagels



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 11:52:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,048
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4834313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stories_By_Bagels/pseuds/Stories_By_Bagels
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mishaps happen often enough that Ryan should know better than to get upset but sometimes he just can't help it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Failed Recordings

**Author's Note:**

> So uh... my first fic posted on here. I wrote this while back (seeing as they are still in 484...)

Low hums of excitement were bouncing off the walls of the Achievement Hunter office. All six of the men were excited to start their newest Let’s Play with a game they had never previously played before. It was one Ryan had suggested they try out, providing a few ideas on what they could do in it. The game was a PC game so other than Ryan the other guys were going into the game mostly blind.

Ray paused by the sofa where Ryan sat, looking down at him, clutching a soda.

“So Ryan, how did you manage to sweet talk Geoff into hoping onto the PC to do a Let’s Play? I mean, isn’t it like… super difficult to record stuff like that?”

Ryan smirked as he looked up at Ray as he took a sip from his soda.

“That you’ll never know.”

He winks at Ray which causes him to nearly chokes on his soda and Ryan bursts into a small giggle fit at the sight, the others turning to investigate what was going on. When Ray finally caught his breath and swallowed, he shot Ryan a dirty look which he met with a large smile. None of the other Hunter’s seemed to have laughed as Ray walked over to his desk. Ryan frowned, confused as to why no one was laughing with him.  
~ ~  
Another half hour passed and the crew still had yet to actually begin the game, their recording software giving them terrible recording problems. Tensions had raised, most of them frustrated, Jack even exiting the room at one point. Ryan had been furiously desk hopping, trying to help them all get the software up and going but it didn’t seem to be compatible with the game. Ryan finally admitted defeat as he sat back down on the sofa. He buried his face in his hands and listened as all the guys got up from their desks and leave the room. 

Geoff lingered for a bit longer than the others, waiting for the room to empty before walking over to Ryan.

“Hey man, don’t beat yourself up to hard. We had no idea your suggestion wasn’t going to work correctly. I guess we now know that we should test the software and the game before committing to it.”

Ryan lifted his face to look up at Geoff who WAS smiling at him, but Ryan was confident he could hear blame lacing Geoff’s words. He accompanied his smile with a nod to Ryan before walking out the door, joining the others; probably talking about how much Ryan’s game was a disappointment and that they had to waste so much time with it. He looks at his laptop with sad eyes and shuts the lid, unplugging it and gingerly picking it up, tucking it underneath his arm.

He exits the Achievement Hunter office and sees Team Lads talking in the kitchen in low voices.

_Well so much for getting something to drink…_

Ryan turns away and begins the small journey into the Warehouse, plopping back down in his true chair. He listens to the heavy doors squeak, Gavin walking in. 

_What is he doing in here?_

“Hey Ryan, I spotted your mug looking into the kitchen.”

_Is this really the reason he came all the here? Just to state the obvious?_

“Look, don’t feel too bad about this whole recording software fiasco mate. None of us would have known that the game you picked was going to be incompatible. I think we’re gonna start recording in a bit… Some more GTA or somethin'…”

Ryan shook his head as he looked back to his multiple computer screens which were all turned off and not actually displaying anything.

“I’m not going to be joining you guys for the recording… I got stuff to work on…”

Gavin shrugged, not really wanting to argue with him if he already had work to do. He turned on his heel and walked back towards the doors, Ryan listening as they squeaked open and then shutting with a dull thud. 

He lets out an exasperated sigh and leans back in his office chair, ruffling his hair in frustration. 

“Maybe I should just leave for the day… I mean, I honestly don’t have anything that I can do…”  
Ryan double checks his laptop and his main computer to make sure everything was off before getting back up from his chair. His gaze rests on his desk for a moment before he exits the warehouse, walking towards the front door.

“Hey Ryan you big lug, where you going!? We’re doing a recording in a bit; get your ass in here!”

The voice of Michael came from behind Ryan and he turned to look at the younger man who was wearing a hat given to them from one of the fans. Ryan shook his head, putting on the best false smile he could. He didn’t want to go record out of fear of mucking up more things than he already had.

“Come on dude. Just put that failed recording behind you, go grab your laptop and get in here.”

Ryan’s fake smile faded and gave way to a frown. He was tired of listening to all of them pretend like he did nothing wrong. 

“Sorry Michael, I got to go… Just got set out to do some… errands.”

Michael wasn’t able to get another word in because at that point Ryan was already out the front door, heading towards his car.  
~ ~ ~ ~ ~  
A buzzing from his phone caused Ryan to weakly crack open his eyes. He groans as he rolls onto his side, groping the floor in search of his phone. He hadn’t had time to put together his bed frame since they had moved into the new house so the mattress he and his wife slept on was still only on the mattress box. The buzzing repeated and Ryan clutched the small black box that he called his phone. Before reading the message, he looked at the time.

“It’s already…. 5:30? Damn… I way overslept…”

Ryan vaguely sits up on the mattress and unlocks his phone, tapping the messaging app. There were a few new messages from Jack and Ryan tapped the conversation.

 _“Hey man, wanna come and grab some food with me?"_  
…  
_I felt bad about what happened with today’s recording session and your game…”_

Ryan felt his eye twitch for a moment when he read the second message. He knew that if he refused Jack’s offer he would only get needled about it tomorrow.

_“Yeah Jack, sounds great. Where do you want to go for chow?”_

Ryan send the message and then climbed off is mattress, heading towards the small bathroom to freshen himself up a bit. He had come home and passed out so he was still wearing his shirt from the morning and his wispy hair was a mess on top of his head. He ran a few fingers through his hair, catching and tearing out any of the knots. After organizing his hair he walked back into his bedroom. He pulled off his shirt, his phone buzzing in his pocket. He unlocks it, reading the message from Jack.

_“How about that steakhouse downtown I was telling you about?”_

Jack had been itching to try this restaurant for a few weeks now after one of his friends went there and wouldn’t stop talking about it.

_“Don’t you need a reservation?”_

Ryan sent the question before pulling on one of his few polo’s. He rarely wore a shirt that wasn’t directly affiliated with RoosterTeeth and the scratchy fabric felt odd against his shoulders. Another buzz interrupted his thoughts.

_“Yeah I think they do require reservations but I’m just going to try and bank on it that they will take walk in’s…”_

Ryan couldn’t argue with the simple explanation and finally wrapped up the conversation by asking about a time. A few moments later Jack told him 6 and with that, Ryan was out of the house, heading towards downtown.

~ ~ ~ ~~ 

Despite it being a weekday evening, traffic was merciful, Ryan arriving only 10 minutes late to the restaurant. When he entered, Jack was lounging on one of the long red velvet benches they had in the waiting area. Ryan greeted him with a smile and a handshake before the two of them walked up to the reception desk. A petite blond looked up at them with shimmering eyes.

“Hi! Welcome to Perry’s Steakhouse, how may I help you this evening gentlemen?”  
Jack spoke up, “Well, we’d like a table but we don’t have reservations and I was wondering if you guys took walk ins…”

The girl looked at the two of them unsurely for a moment.

“Uh… I don’t think we allow walk ins sir, but I can certainly go talk to my manager and see what he says!”

Ryan looked at Jack and Jack nodded at the girl.

“Would you like any drinks while you wait…? We have an open bar if you would like to sit while you wait…”

Jack gave a large smile at the sound of that and nodded, the girl nudged another small girl that was behind the counter and whispered to her what to do. The other nodded and then faced Ryan and Jack, their main girl running off into the restaurant.

“Right this way gentlemen!”

The girl took point as Jack and Ryan took a short walk into the side of the restaurant, the smell of food and alcohol making Ryan’s stomach grumble a bit.

“Here is our bar; a server should be with you in a moment!”

Ryan and Jack gave the girl silent nods of thanks as she walked off back towards the front desk. Jack and Ryan take two stools next to each other, not soon after, a man with tattoo sleeves like Geoff approaches them. 

“What would you gentlemen like to drink tonight?”

“Just some whiskey would be great…”

Jack’s request was simple and the server looked at Ryan. He thought for a moment before simply asking for the first beer his eyes saw on the menu; it wasn’t a classy decision but Ryan really didn’t give a damn at that point.

The bartend disappears and then comes back a minute later with two glasses, handing the drinks to their respected orderer.

Jack takes a sip of his whiskey, the ice clinking around in the glass. Ryan simply stares at his drink, a silence falling between them. 

“Ryan…”

The man turns to look at Jack whose eyes were fixed on the bar.

“I-I know how tough of a day you had and-”

“No you don’t Jack; you have no earthly IDEA what my day was like. Has your guilt ever consumed you Jack? To the point where you feel like you shouldn’t show up to work the next few days?”

“Yes Ryan, I have had that feeling before and it really and truly sucks. Your mind and body are just so shaken and unable to properly function because all you’re thinking about is the thing you fucked up…”

The end of Jack’s sentence trails off into his glass as takes another swig, his face screwing up a bit from the taste of the alcohol. Ryan’s face softened and the guilt from before was creeping back into his stomach.

He wanted to apologize but he knew Jack wasn’t mad or frustrated with him. He knew Jack was only trying to make him feel better and as Ryan thought about it more, that’s what the others had been trying to do too. Geoff and Gavin’s apologies were sincere, Michael felt bad and wanted Ryan to be included and just put the recording trouble behind. 

“Man I’m such an ass…”

Ryan mumbled the phrase to no one in particular but it managed to work its way into Jack’s hearing because Ryan felt his gaze.

“You blow off everyone?”

Ryan nods,

“You feel like everyone was throwing false sympathies at you?”

Ryan nods again,

“You feel like people were talking about you when in actuality they probably weren’t?”

Ryan gives a final nod before he lays his forehead down on the bar, his eyes looking down at his old shoes. He felt something solid land in the small of his back and he jumped back into a stiff sitting position. 

“Ryan, you need to not do that. Back when we were still in our downtown offices I accidentally fucked up some editing for one the red versus blue episodes that was supposed to come out that day. I felt like the biggest piece of shit and that I had let down the guys there when I told them about it. I promptly went home without even trying to fix it or anything. Ryan that is the LAST thing you should do. If there’s a problem, you gotta go face it.”

Ryan’s gaze was fixed on the condensation of his glass, “But Jack, how the heck am I supposed to fix it!? The damn recording software wouldn’t work and I ate up people’s time… It’s not like I can just give them back that time with some booze to go with and be like ‘sorry I wasted your time with my stupid fucking game’.”

Ryan kicked the bar lightly, his suppressed frustrations now beginning to bubble to the surface. Jack looked at him for a moment before looking back in the direction of the bar, flagging down the bar keeper.

The man approaches the two with a smile, not really aware of Ryan’s foul mood. Jack fishes out his wallet, pulling out a few random bills and handing them to the younger man.  
“Will that cover everything?”

The man looks at the wad with wide eyes and nods without arguing about change or anything. Jack downs the rest of his whiskey before lightly shoving Ryan.  
“Come on dude; let’s get out of here…”

Ryan was about to object but Jack was already 10 steps ahead of him and Ryan followed him out. The streets of downtown Austin were still well lit because of the summer sun’s lingering. The two walk a few blocks before ducking in to a small bar. It was one Jack and the other’s used to frequent when they were still downtown. Ryan slides into a small table that was close to the door after being instructed by Jack who had walked off towards the bar. 

He returns with two beers in hand; they were simple Budweisers, not like the odd foreign beer in the restaurant. Ryan takes one, not taking a sip, instead suspiciously eyeing Jack.  
“What’s with the sudden change of pace Jack? I thought you WANTED to go to that steak house.”

Jack rolled his eyes, “Screw the steakhouse, it will be there in a few weeks. What’s the point in going if your just gonna be down the whole time?”

Ryan didn’t have an argument and he and Jack toasted bottles before taking their first swigs together. Ryan set his bottle down on the table before resting his chin in his hand, his gaze looking at nothing.

“So Ryan, what’s REALLY bothering you? You’ve talked to me about this recording thing already and yet you’re still all pouty and shit.”

Ryan took a purposeful gulp from his beer, trying to avoid speaking. No matter how much he didn’t want to talk, Jack’s strong gaze seemed to force Ryan to speak.

“It’s just… like I said… I feel like such an ass since I wasted all you guys time with my dumb game that I’m sure no one really wanted to play…”

“Ryan quit doing that. Quit beating yourself up over this whole thing, you sound so dumb. Look, yeah, it didn’t work out but that doesn’t mean you should just give up! Christ Ryan you of ALL people should know this.”

Ryan thought he could feel a flush and he took another sip of his beer in hopes it would cool him off somehow.

“Another thing, just because it didn’t work out this time doesn’t automatically make it something we couldn’t TRY AGAIN in the future. The fans will never see what went on since we never recorded any actual game footage and no one was dicking around with the camera today. Next time we want to give it a go? We use different software, simple as that. Now shut the fuck up about feeling bad when you have nothing to feel bad about.”  
Jack’s harsh words were surprisingly comforting for Ryan which was something he wasn’t expecting. 

“But Jack… what if they-“

“Ryan seriously, shut the fuck up. They WILL give it a second chance. Stop your damn worrying and eat.”

On cue, a waitress in a rather tight skirt walks up with trays of food in hand, setting them in the middle of the table. It was simple fried food which Ryan couldn’t differentiate between from looking. He nods his thanks to the waitress as she walks off before grabbing one of the small breaded morsels. He takes a bite, his mouth watering in response.

“Man this is great food Jack… what is it?”

The red head shrugged his shoulders as he watched Ryan chow down on the food. The other seems to notice this and stops.

“Jack, aren’t you going to you know… eat?”

He shakes his head, a smile on his face. 

“I ate already. I ate while I was texting you if you wanted to go to the steakhouse and eat with me.”

Ryan tilted his head to the side in confusion.

“This is for you dude. I know that you had a tough day and I thought you could use some cheering up since you left work in such a huff. Food and drink and merriment and all that.”  
Jack let out a hearty laugh and Ryan couldn’t help but join him. It was the first time he had laughed all day. He could feel the past tenseness of his shoulders fade as they rose and fell in sync with his laughing. His stomach was tight because of his struggle to get a good amount of air, not because he was nervous. 

The two men tapped beer bottles again as their laughs consumed the conversation, the problems of the day pushed out of Ryan’s thoughts.


End file.
